Community-led housing and health: a comprehensive literature review

This review of the existing academic and grey literature on the relationship between community-led housing and health was commissioned by Power to Change in Spring 2019. Academics from the University of the West off England used Barton and Grant’s ‘health map’ framework to ensure the review considered a range of conditions that impact on health and the interplay between them. They identified several themes in the literature that suggested potential benefits of community-led housing: healthy aging, social inclusion, improved physical health, tackling multiple disadvantages and meeting additional support needs.

Noting that the existing research in this field is heavily weighted towards qualitative, small scale studies with very few quantitative or larger scale studies undertaken, the authors set out an agenda for future research that could demonstrate more clearly the link between community-led housing and health improvements.